1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to semiconductor integrated circuits having input/output timings which are synchronously controlled by an external clock signal provided from an external source.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a relevant part of an example of a synchronous-dynamic-random-access memory (which is hereinafter referred to as an SDRAM). An SDRAM is one of the semiconductor integrated circuits which has input/output timing controlled in synchronism by an external clock signal provided from an external source.
In FIG. 1, the SDRAM includes a sell-array unit 1 comprised of memory cells arranged in a matrix and address-signal-input nodes 2 (only one node is shown in the figure) for receiving address signals provided from an external source.
The SDRAM further includes a row-address buffer 3 and a row decoder 4. The row-address buffer 3 amplifies row-address signals input via the address-signal-input nodes 2, and provides complement signals representing a row address. The row decoder 4 receives the complement row-address signals from the row-address buffer 3, and decodes the signals to select a word line in the sell-array unit 1.
The SDRAM further includes a column-address buffer 5 and a column decoder 6. The column-address buffer 5 receives column-address signals from the address-signal-input nodes 2, and amplifies the signals before providing complement signals representing a column address. The column decoder 6 decodes the column-address signals from the column-address buffer 5 to produce a column-selection signal.
Further included in the SDRAM are a series of sense-amplifiers 7 and a column-selection circuit 8. The sense-amplifiers 7 amplify data read from the sell-array unit 1. The column-selection circuit 8 selects a column based on the column-selection signal provided from the column decoder 6.
Further, the SDRAM includes a data bus DB and /DB, a data-bus amplifier 9, a switch circuit 10, a data-hold circuit 11, a switch circuit 12, a data-output circuit 13, data-input/output nodes 14 (only one node is shown in the figure), a external-clock-input node 15, a clock-input circuit 16, an output-control-clock generating circuit 17, a output-control-clock signal line 18, a clock-enable-signal-input node 19, and a clock-enable-signal-input circuit 20.
The data bus DB and /DB transfers data output from the column-selection circuit 8. The data-bus amplifier 9 amplifies the data appearing on the data bus DB and /DB. The switch circuit 10 serves as a switch.
The data-hold circuit 11 holds data which are output from the data-bus amplifier 9 in a pipe-line manner. The switch circuit 12 also works as a switch. The data-output circuit 13 outputs data stored in the data-hold circuit 11 in an appropriate order. Data is input to and output from the SDRAM via the data-input/output nodes 14.
The external-clock-input node 15 receives an external clock CLK. The clock-input circuit 16 receives the external clock CLK from the external-clock-input node 15, and provides an internal clock i-clk.
The output-control-clock generating circuit 17 receives the internal clock i-clk from the clock-input circuit 16, and generates an output-control clock o-clk which is supplied to the data-output circuit 13. The output-control-clock signal line 18 conveys the output-control clock o-clk from the output-control-clock generating circuit 17 to the data-output circuit 13.
The clock-enable-signal-input node 19 receives a clock-enable signal CKE. The clock-enable-signal-input circuit 20 reads the clock-enable signal CKE via the clock-enable-signal-input node 19, and supplies a clock-suspend signal csuz to the output-control-clock generating circuit 17.
FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of the data-output circuit 13 shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 2, the data-output circuit 13 includes inverters 23 and 24, a transmission gate 25, a latch 28, an inverter 31, a PMOS transistor 32, a transmission gate 33, a latch 36, an inverter 39, and an NMOS transistor 40.
The inverter 23 inverts the output-control clock o-clk, and the inverter 24 inverts an output of the inverter 23.
Data DATA1 and DATA2 are a pair of data which are read from the sell-array unit 1 and provided from the data-hold circuit 11.
The transmission gate 25 controls the passage of the data DATA1, and includes PMOS transistor 26 and NMOS transistor 27 controlled by the outputs of the inverters 23 and 24, respectively, with regard to an on/off state thereof.
The latch 28 latches the data DATA1, and includes inverters 29 and 30. The inverter 31 inverts an output of the latch 28, and the PMOS transistor 32 is turned on or off depending on an output of the inverter 31. A voltage VCCQ is a power voltage for driving the data-output circuit.
The transmission gate 33 controls the passage of the data DATA2, and includes PMOS transistor 34 and NMOS transistor 35 controlled by the outputs of the inverters 23 and 24, respectively, with regard to an on/off state thereof.
The latch 36 latches the data DATA2, and includes inverters 37 and 38. The inverter 39 inverts an output of the latch 36, and the NMOS transistor 40 is turned on or off depending on an output of the inverter 39.
In the data-output circuit 13 of FIG. 2, the transmission gates 25 and 33 are turned off when the output-control clock o-clk is LOW, thereby shutting off the supply of the data DATA 1 and DATA2.
When the output-control clock o-clk turns to HIGH, the transmission gates 25 and 33 are turned on, so that the data DATA1 and DATA2 are supplied to the circuit.
If both of the data DATA1 and DATA2 are LOW, for example, the inverter 29 outputs a HIGH-level signal, so that the output of the inverter 31 is LOW to turn on the PMOS transistor 32. Further, the output of the inverter 37 is HIGH, so that the output of the inverter 39 is LOW to turn off the NMOS transistor 40. In this case, output data DQ is HIGH.
If both of the data DATA1 and DATA2 are HIGH, for example, the inverter 29 outputs a LOW-level signal, so that the output of the inverter 31 is HIGH to turn off the PMOS transistor 32. Further, the output of the inverter 37 is LOW, so that the output of the inverter 39 is HIGH to turn on the NMOS transistor 40. In this case, output data DQ is LOW.
FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram of the clock-input circuit 16 and the clock-enable-signal-input circuit 20.
The clock-input circuit 16 includes a differential amplifier 42 and inverters 43 through 46. The differential amplifier 42 receives the external clock CLK from the external-clock-input node 15.
FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration of the differential amplifier 42.
In FIG. 4, the differential amplifier 42 includes PMOS transistors 48 and 49 together forming a current-mirror load circuit, NMOS transistors 50 and 51 for performing a differential-amplification operation, and an NMOS transistor 52 serving as a resistance. Here, a voltage Vref is a reference voltage.
When the external clock CLK is LOW, an output of the differential amplifier 42 is HIGH, so that an output of the inverter 45 is LOW. That is, the internal clock i-clk is LOW in this case.
When the external clock CLK is HIGH, an output of the differential amplifier 42 is LOW, so that an output of the inverter 45 is HIGH. That is, the internal clock i-clk is HIGH in this case.
Accordingly, the internal clock i-clk output from the clock-input circuit 16 is the external clock CLK with a delay amounting to a total delay of the differential amplifier 42 and the inverters 43 through 45.
With reference to FIG. 3 again, the clock-enable-signal-input circuit 20 includes a differential amplifier 53, inverters 54 through 59, and a capacitor 60. The differential amplifier 53 receives the clock-enable signal CKE from the clock-enable-signal-input node 19.
FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram of the differential amplifier 53. In FIG. 5, the differential amplifier 53 includes PMOS transistors 61 and 62 together forming a current-mirror load circuit, NMOS transistors 63 and 64 for performing a differential amplification operation, and an NMOS transistor 65 serving as a resistance.
In FIG. 3, a synchronous flip-flop circuit 66 of the clock-enable-signal-input circuit 20 reads the clock-enable signal CKE in synchronism with an inverted internal clock /i-clk provided from the inverter 46 of the clock-input circuit 16. The synchronous flip-flop circuit 66 includes PMOS transistors 67 through 72, NMOS transistors 73 through 81, and inverters 82 and 83.
A latch 84 is comprised of inverters 85 and 86 having outputs thereof supplied to inputs of each other, and latches an output of the synchronous flip-flop circuit 66.
When the inverted internal clock /i-clk is LOW, the PMOS transistors 67 and 70 are turned on, and the NMOS transistor 79 is turned off.
As a result, nodes N1 and N2 are HIGH, so that the PMOS transistors 71 and 72 are turned off, and the NMOS transistors 80 and 81 are also turned off.
When the inverted internal clock /i-clk is turned to HIGH, the PMOS transistors 67 and 70 are turned off, and the NMOS transistor 79 is turned on.
Assume that the outputs of the inverters 58 and 59 are LOW and HIGH, respectively. In this case, the NMOS transistor 78 is turned on with the node N2 LOW, the PMOS transistor 68 turned on, the NMOS transistor 73 turned off, the node N1 HIGH, and the PMOS transistor 69 turned off.
As a result, the PMOS transistors 71 and 72 are turned off and on, respectively, and the NMOS transistors 80 and 81 are turned on and off, respectively. The output of the inverter 85 is thus maintained at a HIGH level.
Assume that the outputs of the inverters 58 and 59 are HIGH and LOW, respectively. In this case, the NMOS transistor 75 is turned on with the node N1 LOW, the PMOS transistor 69 is turned on, the NMOS transistor 74 is turned off, the node N2 is HIGH, and the PMOS transistor 68 is turned off.
As a result, the PMOS transistors 71 and 72 are turned on and off, respectively, and the NMOS transistors 80 and 81 are turned off and on, respectively. The output of the inverter 85 is thus maintained at a LOW level.
The clock-enable-signal-input circuit 20 further includes an inverter 87, transmission gates 88 and 89, latches 90 and 91. The latch 90 includes inverters 92 and 93, and the latch 91 includes inverters 94 and 95. In this example, an output of the inverter 94 is the clock-suspend signal csuz.
When the inverted internal clock /i-clk from the clock-input circuit 16 is HIGH (i.e., the internal clock i-clk is LOW), transmission gates 88 and 89 are turned on and off, respectively, so that the output of the inverter 85 is latched by the latch 90.
When the inverted internal clock /i-clk is changed to LOW (i.e., the internal clock i-clk is changed to HIGH), transmission gates 88 and 89 are turned off and on, respectively, so that the output of the latch 90 is latched by the latch 91.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the output-control-clock generating circuit 17. In FIG. 6, the output-control-clock generating circuit 17 includes a variable-delay circuit 96 for delaying the internal clock i-clk provided from the clock-input circuit 16.
FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram showing a portion of the variable-delay circuit 96, and FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram showing a remaining portion of the variable-delay circuit 96. In FIGS. 7 and 8, the variable-delay circuit 96 includes inverters 98 through 112 and NAND circuits 113 through 128. Signals TC1 through TC8 are delay controlling signals. A delayed clock dll-clk is output from the variable-delay circuit 96.
The delay controlling signals TC1 through TC8 are supplied from a delay-control circuit which will be later described, and only one of the signals is HIGH with the remaining signals being LOW.
If TC1 is HIGH with TC2 through TC8 being LOW, for example, the NAND circuit 120 serves as an inverter for an output of the inverter 101, while outputs of the NAND circuits 113 through 119 are fixed at the HIGH level.
The output of the inverter 108 is thus fixed at the HIGH level. The NAND circuit 128, then, serves as an inverter with respect to the output of the NAND circuit 120. The internal clock i-clk is transferred via the inverters 98 through 101, the NAND circuits 120 and 128, and the inverters 109 through 112, so that the delayed clock dll-clk is output from the inverter 112.
Accordingly, the delayed clock dll-clk is the internal clock i-clk delayed by a total delay of the inverters 98 through 101, the NAND circuits 120 and 128, and the inverters 109 through 112.
If TC4 is HIGH with TC1 through TC3 and TC5 through TC8 being LOW, for example, the NAND circuit 117 serves as an inverter for an output of the inverter 101, while outputs of the NAND circuits 113 through 116 and 118 through 120 are fixed at the HIGH level.
The output of the inverter 105 is thus fixed at the HIGH level. The NAND circuit 125, then, serves as an inverter with respect to the output of the NAND circuit 117. The internal clock i-clk is transferred via the inverters 98 through 101, the NAND circuits 117 and 125, the inverter 106, the NAND circuit 126, the inverter 107, the NAND circuit 127, the inverter 108, the NAND circuit 128, and the inverters 109 through 112, so that the delayed clock dll-clk is output from the inverter 112.
Accordingly, the delayed clock dll-clk is the internal clock i-clk delayed by a total delay of the inverters 98 through 101, the NAND circuits 117 and 125, the inverter 106, the NAND circuit 126, the inverter 107, the NAND circuit 127, the inverter 108, the NAND circuit 128, and the inverters 109 through 112.
With reference to FIG. 6 again, the output-control-clock generating circuit 17 further includes a clock-control circuit 129 which receives the delayed clock dll-clk from the variable-delay circuit 96 to output the output-control clock o-clk.
FIG. 9 is a circuit diagram of the clock-control circuit 129.
In FIG. 9, the clock-control circuit 129 includes an inverter 129-1 for inverting the clock-suspend signal csuz, a NAND circuit 129-2 for taking a NAND operation between the delayed clock dll-clk and an output of the inverter 129-1, and an inverter 129-3 for inverting an output of the NAND circuit 129-2 to generate the output-control clock o-clk.
In the clock-control circuit 129 of FIG. 9, the output of the inverter 129-1 is HIGH when the clock-suspend signal csuz is LOW. In this case, the NAND circuit 129-2 serves as an inverter for the delayed clock dll-clk, so that the output-control clock o-clk will be the delayed clock dll-clk delayed by the NAND circuit 129-2 and the inverter 129-3.
When the clock-suspend signal csuz is HIGH, on the other hand, the output of the inverter 129-1 is LOW, so that the output of the NAND circuit 129-2 and the output of the inverter 129-3 are fixed at the HIGH level and the LOW level, respectively.
With reference to FIG. 6 again, the output-control-clock generating circuit 17 further includes a frequency divider 130 which generates a dummy clock d-clk and a reference clock c-clk by dividing the frequency of the internal clock i-clk from the clock-input circuit 16.
FIGS. 10A through 10C are timing charts showing operations of the frequency divider 130. FIG. 10A shows the internal clock i-clk, and FIG. 10B shows the dummy clock d-clk. Further, FIG. 10C exhibits the reference clock c-clk.
The dummy clock d-clk is obtained by dividing the frequency of the internal clock i-clk by four. The reference clock c-clk is obtained by inverting the dummy clock d-clk, so that a rising edge of the reference clock c-clk is delayed by one cycle of the internal clock i-clk compared to a rising edge of the dummy clock d-clk.
With reference to FIG. 6 again, the output-control-clock generating circuit 17 further includes a delayed-synchronous-loop circuit 131 and a variable-delay circuit 132. The delayed-synchronous-loop circuit 131 may be hereinafter referred to as a DLL circuit as it becomes convenient. The variable-delay circuit 132 delays the dummy clock d-clk to generate a delayed dummy clock d-dll-clk.
FIG. 11 is a circuit diagram showing a portion of the variable-delay circuit 132, and FIG. 12 is a circuit diagram showing a remaining portion of the variable-delay circuit 132. As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the variable-delay circuit 132 has the same configuration as the variable-delay circuit 96, and includes inverters 134 through 148 and NAND circuits 149 through 164.
The variable-delay circuit 132 is provided to emulate the variable-delay circuit 96. Both the variable-delay circuit 132 and the variable-delay circuit 96 are controlled by the same delay-control circuit, which will be later described, so as to have the same delay time.
With reference to FIG. 6 again, the output-control-clock generating circuit 17 further includes a clock-control circuit 165 which emulates the operations of the clock-control circuit 129. FIG. 13 is a circuit diagram of the clock-control circuit 165.
In FIG. 13, the clock-control circuit 165 includes a NAND circuit 165-1 for taking a NAND operation between the delayed dummy clock d-dll-clk and the power voltage VCC, and includes an inverter 165-2 for inverting an output of the NAND circuit 165-1 to generate a dummy output-control clock d-o-clk.
With reference to FIG. 6 again, the output-control-clock generating circuit 17 further includes a signal line 166 and a data-output circuit 167. The signal line 166 emulates a signal line 166 to convey the dummy output-control clock d-o-clk output from the clock-control circuit 165. The data-output circuit 167 is a dummy circuit emulating operations of the data-output circuit 13, and receives the dummy output-control clock d-o-clk via the signal line 166 to output dummy output data d-dq.
FIG. 14 is a circuit diagram of the data-output circuit 167. In FIG. 14, an inverter 169 inverts the dummy output-control clock d-o-clk, and an inverter 170 inverts an output of the inverter 169.
A transmission gate 171 has an input thereof connected to the ground, and includes a PMOS transistor 172 and an NMOS transistor 173. The PMOS transistor 172 and the NMOS transistor 173 are turned on or off, depending on the output of the inverter 169 and the output of the inverter 170, respectively.
A latch 174 includes an inverter 175 and a NAND circuit 176 which receives the dummy output-control clock d-o-clk at one input thereof. A NAND circuit 177 receives an output of the inverter 175 at one input thereof and the power voltage VCC at the other input thereof. A PMOS transistor 178 is controlled to be turned on or off by the output of the NAND circuit 177.
A transmission gate 179 has an input thereof connected to the ground, and includes a PMOS transistor 180 and an NMOS transistor 181. The PMOS transistor 180 and the NMOS transistor 181 are turned on or off, depending on the output of the inverter 169 and the output of the inverter 170, respectively.
A latch 182 includes an inverter 183 and a NAND circuit 184 which receives the dummy output-control clock d-o-clk at one input thereof. A NOR circuit 185 receives an output of the inverter 183 at one input thereof, and the other input thereof is connected to the ground. A NMOS transistor 186 is controlled to be turned on or off by the output of the NOR circuit 185.
When the dummy output-control clock d-o-clk is LOW, the output of the inverter 169 is HIGH, and the output of the inverter 170 is LOW, so that the transmission gates 171 and 179 are turned off.
Since the output of the NAND circuit 176 is HIGH, the inverter 175 outputs a LOW-level signal. In this case, the output of the NAND circuit 177 is HIGH, so that the PMOS transistor 178 is turned off. Further, since the output of the NAND circuit 184 is HIGH, the inverter 183 outputs a LOW-level signal. In this case, the output of the NOR circuit 185 is HIGH, so that the NMOS transistor 186 is turned on. As a result, the dummy output data d-dq output from the data-output circuit 167 is LOW.
When the dummy output-control clock d-o-clk is HIGH, on the other hand, the output of the inverter 169 is LOW, and the output of the inverter 170 is HIGH, so that the transmission gates 171 and 179 are turned on.
The NAND circuit 176 in this case serves as an inverter for the output of the inverter 175, and the NAND circuit 184 also serves as an inverter for the output of the inverter 183.
Accordingly, the inverter 175 outputs a HIGH-level signal. The output of the NAND circuit 177 is LOW, so that the PMOS transistor 178 is turned on. Further, the inverter 183 outputs a HIGH-level signal. The output of the NOR circuit 185 is LOW, so that the NMOS transistor 186 is turned off. As a result, the dummy output data d-dq output from the data-output circuit 167 is HIGH.
In this manner, the dummy output data d-dq output from the data-output circuit 167 is the dummy output-control clock d-o-clk delayed by the same delay amount introduced by the data-output circuit 13.
With reference to FIG. 6 again, the output-control-clock generating circuit 17 further includes a load circuit 188 which emulates the load of the data-output circuit 167.
FIG. 15 is a circuit diagram of the load circuit 188. As shown in FIG. 15, the load circuit 188 includes a capacitor 190.
With reference to FIG. 6 again, the output-control-clock generating circuit 17 further includes a clock-input circuit 192, which is a dummy circuit receiving the dummy output data d-dq from the data-output circuit 167 to output a dummy internal clock d-i-clk. The clock-input circuit 192 has the same configuration as the clock-input circuit 16.
The output-control-clock generating circuit 17 further includes a phase comparator 193 which compares phases between the reference clock c-clk and the dummy internal clock d-i-clk.
FIG. 16 is a block diagram of the phase comparator 193. As shown in FIG. 16, the phase comparator 193 includes a phase-comparison unit 195 and a delay-control-circuit controlling unit 196.
FIG. 17 is a circuit diagram of the phase-comparison unit 195. The phase-comparison unit 195 compares the phase of the reference clock c-clk with the phase of the dummy internal clock d-i-clk to generate phase-comparison signals .phi.a, .phi.b, .phi.c, .phi.d, and .phi.e. As shown in FIG. 17, the phase-comparison unit 195 includes NAND circuits 198 through 211, inverters 212 through 215, and a NOR circuit 216.
FIGS. 18A through 18G are timing charts showing relations between the reference clock c-clk, the dummy internal clock d-i-clk, and the phase-comparison signals .phi.a, .phi.b, .phi.c, .phi.d, and .phi.e. FIGS. 18A through 18G show a case in which the dummy internal clock d-i-clk has a phase that is ahead of the phase of the reference clock c-clk.
FIGS. 19A through 19G are timing charts showing relations between the reference clock c-clk, the dummy internal clock d-i-clk, and the phase-comparison signals .phi.a, .phi.b, .phi.c, .phi.d, and .phi.e, in which the dummy internal clock d-i-clk is in synchronism with the reference clock c-clk.
FIGS. 20A through 20G are timing charts showing relations between the reference clock c-clk, the dummy internal clock d-i-clk, and the phase-comparison signals .phi.a, .phi.b, .phi.c, .phi.d, and .phi.e, in which the dummy internal clock d-i-clk has a phase that is behind the phase of the reference clock c-clk.
With reference to FIG. 16 again, the delay-control-circuit controlling unit 196 receives the phase-comparison signals .phi.a, .phi.b, .phi.c, .phi.d, and .phi.e, and generates control signals .phi..sub.SO, .phi..sub.SE, .phi..sub.RO, and .phi..sub.RE.
FIG. 21 is a circuit diagram of the delay-control-circuit controlling unit 196.
In FIG. 21, the delay-control-circuit controlling unit 196 includes a JK-flip-flop circuit 218 which is comprised of inverters 219 through 221 and NAND circuits 222 through 229. The delay-control-circuit controlling unit 196 further includes NAND circuits 230 through 235 and inverters 236 through 249.
FIGS. 22A through 22F are timing charts showing relations between the reference clock c-clk, the dummy internal clock d-i-clk, and the control signals .phi..sub.SO, .phi..sub.SE, .phi..sub.RO, and .phi..sub.RE. FIGS. 22A through 22F show a case in which the dummy internal clock d-i-clk has a phase that is ahead of the phase of the reference clock c-clk.
FIGS. 23A through 23F are timing charts showing relations between the reference clock c-clk, the dummy internal clock d-i-clk, and the control signals .phi..sub.SO, .phi..sub.SE, .phi..sub.RO, and .phi..sub.RE, in which the dummy internal clock d-i-clk is in synchronism with the reference clock c-clk.
FIGS. 24A through 24F are timing charts showing relations between the reference clock c-clk, the dummy internal clock d-i-clk, and the control signals .phi..sub.SO, .phi..sub.SE, .phi..sub.RO, and .phi..sub.RE, in which the dummy internal clock d-i-clk has a phase that is behind the phase of the reference clock c-clk.
With reference to FIG. 6 again, a delay-control circuit 252 controls the amount of delay introduced by the variable-delay circuits 96 and 132.
FIG. 25 is a circuit diagram of a portion of the delay-control circuit 252. FIG. 26 is a circuit diagram of a remaining portion of the delay-control circuit 252.
As shown in FIGS. 25 and 26, the delay-control circuit 252 includes NMOS transistors 254 through 285, inverters 286 through 293, NAND circuits 294 through 301, and NOR circuits 302 through 309.
The delay-control circuit 252 generates the delay controlling signals TC1 through TC8, and changes these signals to increase the delay of the variable-delay circuits 96 and 132 when the control signals .phi..sub.SO and .phi..sub.SE change between HIGH and LOW in turn, as shown in FIGS. 22C and 22D. Such changes in the control signals .phi..sub.SO and .phi..sub.SE are prompted when the phase of the dummy internal clock d-i-clk is ahead of the phase of the reference clock c-clk.
When the control signals .phi..sub.SO, .phi..sub.SE, .phi..sub.RO, and .phi..sub.RE remain at the LOW level as shown in FIGS. 23C through 23F, the delay controlling signals TC1 through TC8 maintain their current levels, keeping the delay of the variable-delay circuits 96 and 132 unchanged. This is the case in which the dummy internal clock d-i-clk is in synchronism with the reference clock c-clk.
When the control signals .phi..sub.RO and .phi..sub.RE change between HIGH and LOW in turn as shown in FIGS. 24E and 24F, the delay controlling signals TC1 through TC8 are changed to decrease the delay of the variable-delay circuit 96 and the variable-delay circuit 132. This control is made when the dummy internal clock d-i-clk has a phase that is behind the phase of the reference clock c-clk.
An SDRAM configured as described above stores row-address signals and column-address signals in the row-address buffer 3 and the column-address buffer 5, respectively, in this order in synchronism with the external clock CLK.
The row-address signals stored in the row-address buffer 3 are amplified and converted into complement signals, which are in turn decoded by the row decoder 4. Based on the decoding results, a word line is selected in the sell-array unit 1. Data stored in cells which are connected to the selected word line are read out and amplified by the sense-amplifiers 7.
The column-address signals stored in the column-address buffer 5 are amplified and turned into complement signals, which are then decoded by the column decoder 6. The decoded results are used for selecting a column by using a column-selection signal. Data of the selected column is transferred via the data bus DB and /DB to the data-bus amplifier 9, where the data is amplified.
Data output from the data-bus amplifier 9 is held by the data-hold circuit 11 after passing through the switch circuit 10. The data of the data-hold circuit 11 is transferred to the data-output circuit 13 via the switch circuit 12 at a timing controlled by CAS latency. The data-output circuit 13 sends out the output data DQ in synchronism with rising edges of the output-control clock o-clk.
The SDRAM as described above has the following problems.
1) First Problem
FIGS. 27A through 27D are timing charts for explaining a first problem which the SDRAM of FIG. 1 is faced with. FIG. 27A shows the external clock CLK, and FIG. 27B shows the internal clock i-clk. Further, FIG. 27C exhibits the output-control clock o-clk, and FIG. 27D demonstrates the output data DQ.
In the output-control-clock generating circuit 17 of FIG. 6, the dummy internal clock d-i-clk has rising edges in synchronism with the reference clock c-clk, and this synchronization is put in place by the delay-control circuit 252 controlling the delay of the variable-delay circuit 132.
The variable-delay circuit 96 is controlled such that the delay thereof is the same as the delay of the variable-delay circuit 132. Because of this, one in four consecutive rising edges of the output-control clock o-clk is in synchronism with a rising edge of the dummy output-control clock d-o-clk. Even when there is fluctuation in the power voltage VCC, therefore, the output-control clock o-clk can be supplied to the data-output circuit 13 at constant timings.
When a total delay of the clock-input circuit 16, the variable-delay circuit 96, and the data-output circuit 13 happens to be the same as one cycle of the external clock CLK as shown in FIGS. 27A through 27D, the timing at which the output data DQ appears coincides with a rising edge of the external clock CLK. In this case, a data-hold time (tOH), which is one of the AC specifications, becomes zero. This means that an appropriate target value cannot be satisfied with regard to the data-hold time.
2) Second Problem
FIGS. 28A through 28F are timing charts for explaining a second problem which the SDRAM of FIG. 1 is faced with. FIG. 28A shows the external clock CLK, and FIG. 28B exhibits the dummy clock d-clk. FIG. 28C illustrates the dummy output-control clock d-o-clk, and FIG. 28D demonstrates the dummy output data d-dq. Further, FIG. 28E shows the dummy internal clock d-i-clk, and FIG. 28F displays the reference clock c-clk.
The SDRAM of FIG. 1 suffers from an inconvenience that the delayed-synchronous-loop circuit 131 (FIG. 6) cannot lock in synchronization when an operation frequency is increased. This situation is shown in FIGS. 28A through 28F. As shown in figures, when the operation frequency is high, a timing difference in rising edges between the dummy clock d-clk and the dummy internal clock d-i-clk may become longer than the clock cycle tCLK of the external clock CLK. When this happens, a rising edge of the dummy internal clock d-i-clk comes behind a rising edge of the reference clock c-clk, thereby causing the delayed-synchronous-loop circuit 131 to fail to lock in synchronization.
3) Third Problem
The SDRAM of FIG. 1 is designed to reduce power consumption in the delayed-synchronous-loop circuit 131 (FIG. 6) by using the dummy clock d-clk which is obtained through frequency division of the internal clock i-clk.
The lower the frequency of the dummy clock d-clk, the less power the delayed-synchronous-loop circuit 131 consumes. In order to assure a high-operation speed, however, the dummy clock d-clk cannot have too low a frequency.
In the SDRAM of FIG. 1, the frequency of the dummy clock d-clk is constant even when the delayed-synchronous-loop circuit 131 succeeds in locking in synchronization. This means that even after the successful locking, the delayed-synchronous-loop circuit 131 continues to consume power wastefully.
4) Fourth Problem
FIGS. 29A through 29D are timing charts for explaining a fourth problem which the SDRAM of FIG. 1 is faced with. FIG. 29A shows the external clock CLK having a long cycle, and FIG. 29B demonstrates the internal clock i-clk. Further, FIG. 29C exhibits the output-control clock o-clk, and FIG. 29D illustrates the output data DQ.
As shown in the figures, the SDRAM of FIG. 1 cannot assure that access can be made by the external clock CLK when the frequency of the external clock CLK becomes too low. This is because the length of delay becomes insufficient even when a maximum delay by the variable-delay circuit 96 is used. As shown in the figures, the output data DQ appears ahead of the timing of a rising edge of the external clock CLK, which means that access has failed.
5) Fifth Problem
FIGS. 30A through 30F are timing charts for explaining a second problem which the SDRAM of FIG. 1 is faced with. FIG. 30A shows the external clock CLK, and FIG. 30B exhibits the clock-enable signal CKE. FIG. 30C illustrates the output-control clock o-clk obtained from the catalogue, and FIG. 30D demonstrates the internal clock i-clk. Further, FIG. 30E shows the output-control clock o-clk actually used during operations, and FIG. 30F displays the clock-suspend signal csuz.
As shown in the figures, the SDRAM of 1 changes the clock-suspend signal csuz to HIGH when the clock-enable signal CKE is latched, but this change is not initiated until the internal clock i-clk is generated. This results in an excessive power consumption in the variable-delay circuit 96.
Accordingly, there is a need for a semiconductor integrated circuit which can achieve an appropriate target value for the data-hold time.
Further, there is a need for a semiconductor integrated circuit which allows access to be made by a clock signal even when a frequency of the clock signal is low.
Moreover, there is a need for a semiconductor integrated circuit which can reduce power consumption.